The Inspector

This article is about the DePatie-Freleng animated character. For other uses, see Inspector (disambiguation).

For the 1962 feature film starring Stephen Boyd and Dolores Hart, see The Inspector (1962 film).

The Inspector
The series' title card
Portrayed by	Pat Harrington, Jr.
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Inspector

The Inspector is a series of 1960s theatrical cartoons produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and released through United Artists. The titular character is based on Jacques Clouseau, a comical French police officer who is the main character in the Pink Panther series of films.

Plot

Although the titular character was never given a name, in contrast to the completely inept Inspector Clouseau, the cartoon character was generally competent, if prone to moments of bad judgement. The cartoons' humor came from the sometimes surreal villains and situations the Inspector was exposed to, with a healthy dose of stylized cartoon slapstick. Through these difficult circumstances, criminals often get the better of him and he must face the wrath of his ill-tempered, bullying Commissioner (who is clearly based on Herbert Lom's Commissioner Dreyfus character) who holds him in well-deserved contempt.

The Inspector and Deux-Deux in The Great DeGaulle Stone Operation.

Pat Harrington, Jr., provided the voice (and voiceover narration) for the Inspector and, with the exception of one cartoon, his assistant, a French gendarme named Deux-Deux (common nickname in French for Eduard or Eduardo). In Spain, the character was named "Totó", and in the Mexican dubbing, Dodó. The name in the English version of the cartoon sounds like Ju-Du. The frustrated Commissioner was voiced by Larry Storch in the first two cartoons, Paul Frees in most of the following ones, and Marvin Miller in the final few cartoons. The first cartoon, The Great DeGaulle Stone Operation, was the short featured before screenings of the James Bond film Thunderball.

While the Inspector character design remained basically the same throughout the DePatie-Freleng shorts, and was used in the opening credit sequence of the 1968 live-action film Inspector Clouseau (which had Alan Arkin standing in for Peter Sellers as the title character), the Inspector featured in the opening titles of the later Pink Panther features changed dramatically over the years.

The music used for the titles of the cartoon was the song "A Shot in the Dark" by Henry Mancini, borrowed from the 1964 feature film of the same name (the second entry in the Pink Panther film series). The other music in the shows was composed initially by William Lava, then by Walter Greene later on. Two shorts had their own unique version of the theme music, Napoleon Blown-Aparte and Cock-A-Doodle Deux Deux.

All 34 entries appeared during the inaugural season (1969-1970) of The Pink Panther Show. For new bumper sequences, The Inspector (now voiced by Marvin Miller) is featured trying to capture The Pink Panther. Reruns of The Inspector and The Pink Panther Show currently air on the channels Boomerang, This TV and Animania.

List of shorts

NOTE: The initials after each title indicate the director. FF=Friz Freleng, GC=Gerry Chiniquy, RM=Robert McKimson, GS=George Singer.

1965

• 01 The Great DeGaulle Stone Operation 12/21/65 (FF, co-directed by GC) - The Inspector guards the famous diamond from the three-headed jewel thief (the Brothers Matz-O'Reilly, individually named Weft, Wight and Wong).

1966

• 02 Reaux, Reaux, Reaux Your Boat 2/1/66 (GC) - The Inspector is after the notorious smuggler Captain Clamity (a clam with legs).
• 03 Napoleon Blown-Aparte 2/2/66 (GC) - A mad bomber escapes from Le Prison and wants to get even with the man who put him there, the Commissioner. With an endless supply of bombs, he keeps blowing the Commissioner up, with the Inspector's unwitting help. In the end the villain is revealed to be an anthropomorphic bomb who detonates himself.
• 04 Cirrhosis of the Louvre 3/9/66 (GC) - The Blotch (a red blob of paint) threatens to steal all the paintings from the Louvre.
• 05 Plastered in Paris 4/5/66 (GC) - The Inspector chases the man known as "X" around the world. "X" turns out to be Capitan Dumont, their new physical training instructor.
• 06 Cock-A-Doodle Deux Deux 6/15/66 (RM) - The huge diamond 'The Plymouth Rock' has been stolen and the suspects are chickens.
• 07 Ape Suzette 6/24/66 (GC) - The Inspector thinks he is fighting a little man but an ape gets in all the punches.
• 08 The Pique Poquette of Paris 8/25/66 (GS) - Spider Pierre (who has four arms and a spider-web gun) picks pockets, especially those of the Inspector.
• 09 Sicque! Sicque! Sicque! 9/23/66 (GS) - In the house of a mad scientist, Deux Deux drinks a flask of something and keeps changing into a big green monster who beats up and shoots the Inspector.
• 10 That's No Lady, That's Notre Dame 10/26/66 (GS) - Trying to catch a purse snatcher, the Inspector disguises himself as a woman and falls afoul of the Commissioner's wife.
• 11 Unsafe and Seine 11/9/66 (GS) - The Inspector is told his life is in danger and he must meet with an agent.
• 12 Toulouse La Trick 12/30/66 (RM) - The Inspector handcuffs himself to Toulouse Le Moose and throws away the key so he cannot escape him. Toulouse drags the handcuffed Inspector through very rough terrain.

1967

• 13 Sacre Bleu Cross 2/1/67 (GC) - When they go after Hassan the Assassin, Deux-Deux gives The Inspector an unlucky rabbit's foot.
• 14 Le Quiet Squad 5/17/67 (RM) - The Commissioner is overworked and needs absolute quiet or he goes into uncontrolled fits of temper. The Inspector is assigned to look after him, but has trouble with a noisy cat.
• 15 Bomb Voyage 5/22/67 (RM) - The Inspector and Deux-Deux go to the planet Yornova to rescue the Commissioner, who has been kidnapped by aliens.
• 16 Le Pig-Al Patrol 5/24/67 (GC) - The Inspector is sent after biker Pig Al and his biker gang.
• 17 Le Bowser Bagger 5/30/67 (GC) - The Inspector is given Private Bowser, a very energetic dog, in his efforts to track down a thief.
• 18 Le Escape Goat 6/29/67 (GC) - Sacked for letting Louie Le Fink escape, the Inspector tries to stop Le Fink from taking vengeance on the Commissioner, but ends up becoming part of the manhunt himself.
• 19 Le Cop on Le Rocks 7/3/67 (GS) - The Inspector is mistaken for a bank robber who is his double.
• 20 Crow De Guerre 8/16/67 (GC) - The Inspector is continually outwitted by a crow that steals jewels.
• 21 Canadian Can-Can 9/20/67 (GC) - Sent to Canada on an exchange programme, the Inspector is sent after Two-Faced Harry, who has an "innocent" face on his front and an evil face on his back.
• 22 Tour De Farce 10/25/67 (GC) - Through his own fault, the Inspector is stranded on Deserted Island with the convict Mack Le Truck, who is trying to kill him.
• 23 The Shooting of Caribou Lou 12/20/67 (GC) - On holiday in Canada as a Mountie, the Inspector is kidnapped by the diminutive but aggressive fur trapper Caribou Lou.

1968

• 24 London Derriere 2/7/68 (GC) - Having chased jewel thief Louie Le Swine around the world, the Inspector tries to nab him in London. Unfortunately, he runs afoul of the no-gun laws and a British Police Captain.
• 25 Les Miserobots 3/21/68 (GC) - The Inspector is fired after being replaced by an efficient police robot. He tries to destroy it, but his attempts backfire. In the end the robot does such a good job that the Commissioner loses his job as well, and joins the Inspector in a skid-row soup kitchen.
• 26 Transylvania Mania 3/26/68 (GC) - The Inspector is sent to find a scientist who is making monsters without a licence. The scientist is a vampire who needs a brain for his latest monster, and the Inspector arrives at just the right moment.
• 27 Bear De Guerre 4/26/68 (GC) - The Inspector goes quail hunting but runs afoul of a disagreeable bear.
• 28 Cherche Le Phantom 6/13/68 (GC) - The Inspector looks for the Phantom, and finds the crook is an escaped gorilla who happens to be an opera buff.
• 29 Le Great Dane Robbery 7/7/68 (GC) - A stolen code book is hidden in an embassy, with a very large dog named "Tiny" guarding it.
• 30 La Feet's Defeat 7/24/68 (GC) - The Inspector and Deux-Deux follow the footprints of Muddy La Feet and encounter many booby traps, which Deux-Deux sets off. The crook turns out to be the Commissioner, playing a prank on the Inspector. This is the only time that the Inspector accepts Deux-Deux's Spanish.
• 31 Le Ball and Chain Gang 7/24/68 (GC) - The Inspector tries to get into the house of an argumentative couple.

1969

• 32 French Freud 1/22/69 (GC) - A crooked Russian actress and her "maid" (i.e. husband in drag) are trying to kill the Inspector to get at the Du Barry diamond, which he is guarding under his hat.
• 33 Pierre and Cottage Cheese 2/26/69 (GC) - The Inspector takes the very bad advice of a Chinese robot on how to break into a house where Dirty Pierre Le Punk is reportedly hiding.
• 34 Carte Blanched 5/14/69 (GC) - The Inspector has a guilty conscience over an unreturned shopping cart (apparently brought on by a malignant voiceover), which everyone thinks he has stolen.

Voices

• Pat Harrington, Jr. - The Inspector, Deux-Deux
• Paul Frees - The Commissioner (1966–1967)
• Don Messick - Deux-Deux (La Feet's Defeat)
• Larry Storch - The Commissioner (1965–1966) (The Great DeGaulle Stone Operation, Napoleon Blown-Aparte)
• Marvin Miller - The Commissioner (1967, 1968–1969), The Inspector, Deux Deux (The Pink Panther Show)
• Mark Skor - The Commissioner (1967) (Canadian Can-Can)

DVD release

A DVD containing the first seventeen shorts was released on March 4, 2008 from MGM Home Entertainment/20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.^{[citation needed]}

A DVD set titled Pink Panther and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection released on January 27, 2009 MGM Home Entertainment contains the first set of 17 shorts and a volume 2 containing the last 17 shorts.

Other appearances

The Inspector also appears in the 1993-95 syndicated TV series, The Pink Panther voiced by Brian George. The Inspector often works alongside the Pink Panther when he is depicted in the law enforcement.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Big Cartoon Database
• Golden Age
• Retrô TV (Portuguese)